Saudi-Backed Oil Exchange Sees First Trade on OTC Platform
The Saudi-backed exchange for Oman oil futures said a new over-the-counter platform allowing customers to trade physical cargoes of various crudes saw its first trade, part of an effort to help bolster the bourse's aim to provide a regional benchmark.
The Gulf Mercantile Exchange, in which the Saudi bourse bought about a third in 2014, set up the new platform allowing traders to deal in Omani crude or other comparable grades in bilateral deals.
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CNBC
a day ago
- CNBC
China's personal delivery market is on the rise. Only some are already making money
China's large labor force and internet ecosystem have supported fleets of couriers delivering an increasing range of products on demand. U.S.-listed BingEx has taken a unique strategy by dedicating one delivery person for each order, becoming "a pioneer in the dedicated courier service industry," Deutsche Bank analyst Jessie Xu said in a June 10 report that initiated coverage on the stock with a buy rating. By using the Chinese company's app, someone in China can have their suitcase transported across town, or have the courier buy a specific cake and deliver it to a party. The business operates under the brand "FlashEx" or "Shan Song," which means "delivery in a flash" in Mandarin. The brand's name has become a local way to describe the service, just like Kleenex. FlashEx "started recording positive unit operating profit from 3Q23 and has been profitable since then," Deutsche Bank's Xu said, pointing out that most of its competitors still operate at a loss in the one-on-one courier business. On-demand delivery has become a competitive market that logistics companies and e-commerce platforms have expanded into, often with heavy subsidies and piling several orders onto one courier. But even Alibaba expects consumers will want to buy on demand, and in the last several weeks has rolled out a channel for people to buy food, clothes and other products on e-commerce platform Taobao — and get it delivered in as quickly as 30 minutes. Most of FlashEx's competitors are subsidiaries of larger companies with other business lines. U.S.-listed Dada , which was previously a Walmart-backed supermarket delivery business separate from was absorbed into the Chinese e-commerce giant over the last few years. Dada reported loss from operations rose to 2.16 billion yuan in 2024, up from 2.11 billion yuan a year earlier. Earlier this year, launched a campaign in on-demand delivery to compete with food delivery giant Meituan. Both companies reported operating losses for "new" initiatives in the first quarter. Chinese logistics giant SF Holdings has a small intra-city on-demand delivery unit, which contributed to just over 3% of total revenue last year. The segment's revenue rose by 22% from a year ago, while its net profit more than doubled to 132 million yuan . The on-demand delivery market is expected to grow by an average of 13% a year through 2028, a slowdown from 20% annual growth from 2019 to 2023, Xu said in the report. "This growth should be supported by the rapid expansion of Online-to-Offline (O2O) retail, food delivery services, and increasing demand for personalized delivery options." But personal, one-on-one courier services still represents only 4% to 5% of that delivery market, Xu said, predicting 10% annual growth in the next three years. She pointed out that as of the end of 2024, FlashEx had 2.8 million riders serving over 100 million registered customers in 295 cities. U.S.-traded shares of BingEx closed at $3.87 a piece on Friday, for 21% upside to Deutsche Bank's price target of $4.70. However, the stock has plunged more than 50% so far this year after the company grappled with more competition and tepid Chinese consumer spending in the last several months. "FlashEx has strategically exited some 2B businesses since 2H24, as the company is focused more on" unit economics," Xu said. "Management made it clear that the company will not chase pure volume market share gains at the cost of profitability. … This set a positive tone for the company's sustainable growth and profitability in the mid-to-long run." — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Where Will BigBear.ai Stock Be in 5 Years?
has struggled to grow since its SPAC-backed market debut. It blamed its sluggish growth on the macro and competitive challenges. A few green shoots are appearing, but its future still looks murky. 10 stocks we like better than › (NYSE: BBAI) hasn't impressed too many investors since its public debut. The artificial intelligence (AI) software company went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) on Dec. 7, 2021. Its stock opened at $9.84 on its first day, but it now trades at less than $4. Like many other SPAC-backed start-ups, overpromised and underdelivered. In the company's pre-merger presentation, it claimed it would triple annual revenue from $182 million in 2021 to $550 million in 2024. But from 2021 to 2024, its revenue only rose from $146 million to $158 million in 2024, while its net loss more than doubled from $124 million to $257 million. Those numbers were grim, but could this unloved AI stock still bounce back over the next five years? provides three main AI modules (Observe, Orient, and Dominate) that ingest data, identify trends, and predict future outcomes. It plugs its modules into edge networks that intercept and process data before it reaches an organization's origin servers. It also builds customized apps for certain markets and shares its data with bigger AI-driven data mining firms, like Palantir. blamed its slowdown on the bankruptcy of its major customer Virgin Orbit in 2023, competition from bigger cloud and AI companies, macro headwinds for software spending, and its dependence on fixed-price contracts, which restrict the company from adjusting prices if its costs keep rising. 2021 2022 2023 2024 Revenue $145.6 million $155.0 million $155.2 million $158.2 million Gross Margin 23% 27.7% 26.2% 28.6% Adjusted EBITDA $4.9 million ($17.1 million) ($3.2 million) ($2.4 million) Data source: EBITDA = earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. was led by three different CEOs in as many years. Reggie Brothers, who oversaw its public debut, resigned in 2022 and handed the reins to Mandy Long, a former IBM executive. Long focused on cutting costs and expanding the company's platform through its all-stock acquisition of the AI vision firm Pangiam in early 2024. This January, Pangiam's co-founder and CEO Kevin McAleenan, who had previously served as the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during the first Trump administration, succeeded Long as new CEO. Under Long and McAleenan, tightened its relationship with the U.S. goverment with more Department of Defense, DHS, and U.S. Navy contracts. Its modules are now being used in the Orion Joint Staff, SeaPort Next-Gen, and foreign media analysis programs. They're also being used by Austral USA to produce submarines and Hardy Dynamics to develop drone swarms, and the company has been working with Easy Lease and Vigilix to serve the mobility and industrial sectors in the UAE. backlog swelled to nearly $385 million at the end of the first quarter of 2025, and the company should secure more government and commercial deals as its brand visibility improves. As it gains new contracts, will start deploying some of its new custom AI platforms -- including Pangiam's security tools, ProModel, ConductorOS, and -- and monetize them more aggressively. Some of its newer AI platforms, including veriScan and Trueface, are already boosting revenue. From 2024 to 2026, analysts expect revenue to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% as its adjusted EBITDA turns positive in the final year. Those growth rates aren't that impressive, especially when bigger AI companies like Palantir are growing faster and posting bigger profits. However, the figures indicate that business won't grind to a halt anytime soon. And with a market cap of $1.1 billion, the company's stock doesn't look like a screaming bargain at 6.5 times this year's sales. Assuming matches Wall Street's expectations, grows its revenue at a CAGR of 10% over the next four years, and trades at a reasonable five times forward sales by the start of 2030, its market cap might rise more than 25% to $1.4 billion over the next five years. That would still likely underperform the S&P 500 index, which has delivered an average annual return of 10% ever since its inception. would also need to play all of its cards right to achieve that gain -- and a lot of macro and competitive challenges could derail its growth and prevent it from securing fresh contracts. For now, I think weaknesses still overwhelm its strengths -- and I'll need to see more green shoots appear before I pull the trigger. Before you buy stock in consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $655,255!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $888,780!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 999% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 174% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025 Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends International Business Machines and Palantir Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Where Will Stock Be in 5 Years? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business Insider
Short-Seller Chanos and Michael Saylor Argue Over Strategy Stock's (MSTR) Valuation
The war of words between famous short-seller Jim Chanos and Strategy's (MSTR) executive chairman, Michael Saylor, over the Bitcoin treasury company's premium valuation continues. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Chanos called Saylor a 'wonderful salesman' and believes that Strategy, previously known as MicroStrategy, should not be valued only on the basis of its Bitcoin Holdings. Confident Investing Starts Here: Notably, Strategy has been accumulating Bitcoin by raising funds through equity or debt offerings to purchase the cryptocurrency. Interestingly, the company has shifted to selling preferred stock to fund its Bitcoin purchases, instead of convertible bonds or at-the-money common stock sales. Chanos Suggests that Traders Short Strategy Stock The debate between Chanos and Saylor was triggered when the former suggested that traders should short Strategy stock and purchase Bitcoin directly. Chanos explained that the premium enjoyed by MSTR stock over the value of Bitcoin holdings could narrow, presenting an opportunity for the arbitrage trade. Chanos thinks that Strategy's market value should not be more than the value of its Bitcoin holdings. For context, as of June 9, the company held 582,000 Bitcoins, worth around $62.3 billion, while MSTR stock's market value of $108 billion was over 1.7 times its crypto holdings. Chanos believes that this disconnect creates an arbitrage opportunity to buy the largest cryptocurrency and short MSTR stock. However, Saylor disagrees with the short seller's trading recommendation, saying, 'I don't think he understands what our business model is.' He highlighted that Strategy is the largest issuer of Bitcoin-backed credit instruments in the world. He added that Chanos still doesn't understand that MSTR is an operating company and not a closed-end trust or a holding company. While trusts can't leverage Bitcoin, issue preferred shares, and/or issue permanent shares, Strategy can do these. Chanos has previously called Saylor's tactics 'financial gibberish.' Saylor cautioned that if MSTR stock trades at a weak premium, the company is going to sell the preferred stock and buyback common shares, and if the stock rallies, Chanos is 'going to get liquidated and wiped out.' Is MSTR Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold? Unlike Chanos, most Wall Street analysts are bullish on Strategy stock, with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 12 Buys and one Sell recommendation. In addition, the average MSTR stock price target of $524.92 per share implies 37.1% upside potential.
